Vancouver, Canada – Dareck Mckay has announced the release of his EP song entitled “Mother.” The EP includes a video that features home video footage from over 20 years ago. And it’s a release that holds a special place in Dareck’s heart:

“It has helped me to heal wounded parts of my soul,” says Dareck, “and it would be my hope that it can do the same for some of you.

“Growing up, I would see the mothers of my friends whose only addiction was to pepper their children with kisses and shower them with more love than they knew what to do with. My mother was different. My mother was addicted to drugs and alcohol.

“Even as a child, I always knew she loved me but I also knew that her love for her addictions exceeded her love for me. This led me to feel as though I was unworthy of love. If my mother, the person whose love was supposed to be unmatched and guaranteed, couldn’t love me more than her addiction, how could I be deserving of love? Perhaps my thoughts were ignorant, but that didn’t stop them from coming then, or even now.

“I still struggle with these feelings of being undeserving, and they paved a nice road to low self-esteem and episodes of depression. My blessing was that I had a father who took on the role of single parent, and provided me with a home and some stability. While I wrestled with my inner demons in the safety of my father’s home, my mother struggled with her demons bouncing from shelter to shelter, or at best a temporary place when she had the money. She was always in need of money. Money for drugs, money for liquor and money to put a roof over her head if she was lucky.

“I was ashamed. I grew up in a small town, where the average person came from what I believed to be financially stable and loving homes. I didn’t want them to know that I was different. I hid my mother’s situation from even my closest friends in fear of being seen as a lesser person by association. I layered myself in false bravado and surrounded myself with heavy metal and booze for majority of my teens. It wasn’t until my mother was diagnosed with cancer and told she had very little time left to live that we for the first time began to really connect as mother and son.

“Was it enough to make up for her absence throughout my life? Honestly, no, but that didn’t stop either of us from making the best of the time we had left together.

“With a sober mind, she was filled with regret and remorse, as her true love was always her children. I would often bring my guitar to the hospice, and play for her. She was so proud of me, and that filled my heart more than I could ever really explain to another person. I remember spending my 20th birthday there. She wouldn’t stop bitching at the nurse for bringing me only one scoop of ice cream. To this day, it is still a favourite memory of mine.

“She was only 46 when she finally passed away. It was in a room surrounded by loved ones and that was all she could have wished for.

“Having said all of this, my perspective towards addiction, or women on the street is not one of discomfort or disgust. It is a perspective of compassion. Some are mothers, all are daughters, and all have demons or trauma in their lives that most of us will never know about, or understand.

“Going forward with this musical endeavour, I will be using my mother’s maiden name Mckay. Pronounced, Mick-eye. This way, no matter where this journey goes, I will always remember how it started.

“I used to think I could have been someone different, or been someone better if only she’d been a more present, stable mother. Now? Well, now I think sometimes you just have to accept the crap the world throws at you and use it to mold you into the person you are supposed to become.

“I saw some unfortunate shit in my childhood that could have led me to a different lifestyle, a darker one, but I didn’t let it. At the end of the day your decisions, and ultimately your life are up to you. They are in your hands, no matter what your upbringing was like or the hardships you’ve endured. Hopefully you make the choices that lead to you being proud and happy with yourself. I haven’t always made all the right choices but each and every decision brought me to where I am now, and I’m happy with where I am.”

Dareck is hosting a fundraiser/CD release event on January 27that The Taphouse in Surrey B.C. All ticket proceeds will be donated to women’s shelters as a tribute to his mother and her struggles.

“I know a lot of you have traveled and made friends all over the world,” concludes Dareck, “So let’s see how far we can take this by sharing. I appreciate any and all support!”